Using #CSS Effectively
In addition to the #CSS rules, here are some tips which will make it easier to get help.
Live URLs
Please provide a live URL of the problem site. Screenshots are difficult to debug. Only providing the CSS for a site doesn’t help us see the problem: CSS does not work without HTML.
Pastebins
For our purposes, JSFiddle is the site most people use.
Test Cases
A test case is the minimal amount of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript needed to reproduce your problem. By making it easy to see exactly what and where the problem is, the people in the channel will be more inclined to help.
In the course of making the test case, you may even figure out the solution to your problem yourself!
Content Management Systems (CMS)
We answer questions about HTML and CSS. We can help with any HTML and CSS that any CMS or web framework produce, but you may not be able to apply our suggested fixes. Knowing your CMS is up to you.
Many CMS templates are built for flexibility and configurability, not for clean HTML and CSS. Building a test case is very helpful when dealing with a CMS.
Pitfalls
Avoid these behaviors to make your time in the channel go smoothly:
Don’t be a Help Vampire
Help Vampires are people who wholly rely on the knowledge of others to do their work. Instead of trying to learn, the help vampire asks for an example, and copies the result into their own code.
What distinguishes the help vampire is:
- Asking the same question multiple times, despite getting answers
- Instead of asking the same question, if you do not understand the answers, ask followup questions for clarification
- Appearing to lack initiative
- Tell us about everything you tried before you joined the channel. This will also help us to help you.
- Before asking for clarification on a term, try asking Google
- Don’t be afraid to try things while asking for help. Tell us what you tried and what happened!
- Being rude and demanding
- The people in the channel are volunteers. Rude behavior is against the #CSS rules.
Bots
Selvvir is an IRC bot run by AMcBain for the #css channel on Libera Chat. Bot features don’t change very often but for an up to date list of factoids and the current command documentation, visit Selvvir’s page. Ping AMcBain about issues with Selvvir. Don’t forget to ask Selvvir about `hotpink
Commands
Commands are prefixed with the ` (backtick) character to indicate to Selvvir it is being addressed:
`somefactoid
Anything not recognized as an explicit command is assumed to be a factoid. Factoids can have spaces.
The @ character can be used to address a command’s response or factoid
output to another user:
`caniuse flex @ username
However, all errors are reported back as notices to the original requestor and not the addressed user. Commands with longer output also send it as a notice, so as not to spam the channel.
Some commands have flags to modify their response. Those can be placed after the command name:
`caniuse/p flex
Not all commands offer flags, and more than one flag can be used together in any order:
`caniuse/np flex
Flags a command does not recognize will be ignored.
In addition to the flags below, each command has a flag causing it to list out information about it and its flags instead of returning its normal response. This page is built with the same information listed there.
`caniuse/?
set <name> = <content>
Add or update a factoid
(Admin only)
Flags:
- r: regexp: enables regexp mode; <content> must be a sed-style (s///) substitution literal, conforming to Java regular expression syntax
- a: alias: alias mode; create an alias to an existing factoid: <content> becomes a factoid name instead
- !: force: this flag must be set to overwrite an existing factoid; otherwise a warning will be issued
Notes:
- flags ‘r’ and ‘a’ are mutually exclusive
del <factoid-name>
Delete a factoid
(Admin only)
Flags:
- !: force: enables deletion of factoids that have aliases leading to it; will also delete all aliases
commands
Display a list of special commands I support
Flags:
- v: verbose: also lists the description for each command
info <factoid-name>
Display information about a factoid
search <text>
Search the factoids store
Flags:
- o: original: only search ‘original’ factoids; that is, factoids that are not aliases
- a: aliases: only search factoid aliases
- n: names: only search factoid names
- c: content: only search factoid content
Notes:
- flags ‘o’ and ‘a’ are mutually exclusive
- flags ‘n’ and ‘c’ are mutually exclusive
v [<url>]
Check a resource with the W3C markup and CSS validators.
Notes:
- If no URL is given, the last URL seen is checked